CMake Fundamentals

This sub-volume starts from "what CMake actually is" and lands on the target mental model, dependency management, and reproducible configuration. The goal is for you to stop copy-pasting CMakeLists.txt and instead understand the design intent behind every command.

STARTFINISHWhat is CMake — the two-stage pipeline of a build system generator→STARTFINISHThe target mental model — treat a target as an object, PUBLIC/PRIVATE/INTERFACE are usage requirements→STARTFINISHDependencies and the C++ standard — modern ways to write find_package and cxx_std_NN→STARTFINISHCMakePresets.json — from the old cmake -D way to reproducible --preset builds→